Cliffside Park Board reviews preschool expansion, new lunch service and closes 2024–25 audit
Summary
At its Dec. 10 meeting the Cliffside Park School District Board of Education highlighted community drives, expanded preschool and tutoring programs, approved an agenda by voice vote, and reviewed audit-close resolutions and a ParentSquare contract.
Cliffside Park — The Cliffside Park School District Board of Education opened its Dec. 10 meeting with routine announcements and community recognitions before reviewing several district initiatives and administrative actions.
Board members and staff highlighted recent community drives and student activities. According to the meeting, Craig Nichols organized a pajama drive that collected more than 300 pairs of pajamas and Scholastic donated about 300 books to the district Head Start program. Staff and volunteers ran a toy drive organized by Missus Witty and Missus Rego to support students in need.
District officials described planned changes to elementary lunch service under a contract with food provider Pomptonian. The board said new steam tables will allow students to eat outside classrooms with more fresh choices; the roll-out begins at School 5 and will move to Schools 4 and 3 as the year progresses.
Administrators updated the board on early-education and academic-support programs. The Preschool Expansion Act grant already in place at School 5 will expand to School 3 next month, with building walkthroughs planned in January to determine available space. Missus Calabrese also noted the High Impact Tutoring (HIT) program, funded by the board for another year, will provide targeted sessions for roughly grades 2–6 and additional support for multilingual learners.
The board previewed several resolutions on the meeting agenda. Resolution 24 follows affirmative-action training by John Lombardo, who the board identified as the district’s affirmative-action officer and middle school vice principal, and will post a standardized form on the district website for reporting formal affirmative-action cases. Resolution 25 recognizes Dr. Pantoliano’s appointment as interim president of the Bergen County School Boards Association. Resolution 57 concerns a contract with ParentSquare to manage the district’s messaging and notification system; the board encouraged parents to verify contact information in the parent portal.
On finance and administration, officials said the district is formally closing the 2024–25 school year and will upload audit documents and corrective-action materials required by the New Jersey Department of Education. The board also discussed early planning for the 2025–26 year and work beginning on the 2026–27 budget and potential capital projects.
Student representative Mister Matos reported on high school Spirit Week activities and recent fundraisers, and thanked staff for improvements to the lunchroom service.
Procedurally, a motion to accept the meeting agenda was made (mover identified as Mister Cano; second identified as Mister Garcia) and was carried by voice vote after multiple members responded "Yes." No contested votes or amendments were recorded in the available transcript.
The board’s next steps include posting the affirmative-action reporting form, completing the audit submissions, conducting building walkthroughs for preschool expansion, and continuing budget planning for 2026–27. The meeting proceeded to subsequent agenda items.
